378.7435 

-        — THELIBRABY 

OF  THE 

i)  ^  I|Nii"^''f|TY  OF  RIINOIS 


if 


TUTTLE 


ADDRESS 


HON.  MYRON  LAWRENCE, 


WITH  OTHER 

ISroceeirinjs  of  a  JUating  of  t)ermonto0, 

HELD  IN  BOSTON, 

IN  BEHALP  OP 

MIDDLEBURY  COLLEGE. 


 —  f%\%^' 

BOSTON: 

PRESS  OF  T,  R.  MARVIN,  24  CONGRESS  STREET. 
1851. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/addressofhonnnyroOOIawr 


MIDDLEBURY  COLLEGE. 


The  following  Address  of  the  Hon.  Myron  Lawrence  and 
the  Letter  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bates,  were  elicited  by  an  effort  in 
Boston  to  obtain  funds  for  the  relief  and  endowment  of  Middle- 
bury  College.  At  first,  a  meeting  of  the  Alumni  in  Boston  and 
vicinity  was  called  to  consider  the  exigencies  of  the  Institution, 
and  for  that  meeting  the  Letter  of  Dr.  Bates  was  more  partic- 
ularly designed.  It  was  deemed  advisable  to  spread  the  facts 
in  relation  to  the  College  before  the  natives  of  Vermont,  resi- 
dent in  Boston.  Accordingly  a  call  for  Vermonters  was  made, 
and  a  good  number  attended.  The  Hon.  Myron  Lawrence, 
of  Belchertown,  was  called  to  the  Chair,  and  S.  W.  Bates,  Esq. 
appointed  Secretary. 

President  Labaree  gave  a  detailed  statement  of  the  affairs  of 
the  College,  and  answered  a  variety  of  questions  proposed  by 
different  gentlemen  in  regard  to  the  expenses  and  financial  man- 
agement of  the  Institution.  It  appears  that  the  College  origi- 
nated in  the  wants  of  the  people.  At  the  time  of  receiving 
its  charter,  there  was  no  Institution  in  Vermont  in  which  young 
men  could  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  liberal  education.  The 
founders  of  the  College  had  large  hearts  and  liberal  views,  but 
their  pecuniary  ability  was  not  suflicient  to  place  the  Institution 
upon  an  independent  foundation.  To  afford  facilities  for  young 
men,  of  small  pecuniary  resources,  to  pursue  a  liberal  course  of 
study,  tuition  and  incidental  expenses  were  placed  very  low,  and 
the  patrons  of  education  were  appealed  to  for  aid  in  sustaining 
a  competent  Faculty  of  instruction.  Petitions  have  been  pre- 
sented to  the  Legislature  of  Vermont  for  appropriations  from 
the  State  treasury;  they  have  been  respectfully  received  and 
kindly  considered ;  but  as  Vermont  has  no  public  revenue  except 
what  is  deriv.ed  from  direct  taxation,  the  Legislature  has  not 


4 


deemed  it  expedient  to  appropriate  funds  for  the  support  of  the 
higher  Institutions  of  the  State. 

The  citizens  of  Vermont  have  been  frequently  applied  to  for 
aid  in  sustaining  the  Institution,  and  they  have  generously  re- 
sponded to  these  calls ;  but  this  repeated  solicitation  of  funds 
must  soon  become  wearisome  even  to  its  best  friends,  and  the 
Trustees  have  determined  to  make  a  vigorous  effort  to  place  the 
Institution  above  the  necessity  of  these  frequent  demands  upon 
the  benevolence  of  the  public.  Sixty  thousand  dollars  is  the 
least  sum  that  will  answer  their  purposes.  Of  this  sum  twenty- 
five  thousand  has  been  secured  in  valid  subscriptions,  most  of 
which  was  obtained  in  Vermont ;  and  an  attempt  is  now  made 
to  raise  thirty-five  thousand  more,  of  which  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  is  to  constitute  a  permanent  fund,  only  the  annual  interest 
to  be  used  in  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  Institution. 

The  financial  affairs  of  the  Institution  are  conducted  with 
the  strictest  regard  to  economy;  the  salaries  of  its  Professors 
are  lower  than  those  of  any  College  in  New  England,  and  yet 
sufficient  to  command  the  services  of  the  ablest  instructors. 
The  Hon.  Horace  Eaton,  while  Governor  of  the  State,  accepted 
a  Professorship  in  the  College  at  a  salary  of  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  He  had  been  for  several  years  Superintendent 
of  Schools  in  the  State,  and  well  understood  the  relation  of 
Middlebury  College  to  the  best  interests  of  Vermont  and  the 
country.  The  Institution  has  six  instructors  and  a  treasurer, 
who  devotes  only  a  part  of  his  time  to  its  service ;  the  aggre- 
gate annual  expense  for  salaries,  including  also  repairs  and 
incidental  charges,  does  not  vary  much  from  5,500  dollars. 
The  first  half  century  of  its  existence  has  just  been  completed  ; 
and  on  reviewing  its  history  and  gathering  up  results,  its  friends 
have  no  occasion  to  regret  the  toil  and  sacrifice  which  have  been 
required  to  sustain  it. 

Nine  hundred  young  men  have  been  educated  within  its 
walls,  most  of  whom  have  done  honor  to  the  Institution  and  to 
the  country.  Among  its  graduates  it  numbers  four  hundred 
clergymen  ;  and,  in  at  least  seven  Christian  denominations,  they 
stand  in  the  foremost  rank.  Ten  of  its  sons  have  been  Presi- 
dents of  Colleges  or  higher  Institutions,  and  not  less  than  forty 
have  been  Professors  in  such  seminaries  of  learning,  and  a  large 
number  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  work  of  instruction  in 


other  departments  of  education.  Some  of  its  graduates  have 
been  among  the  most  distinguished  statesmen  and  jurists  in  the 
nation. 

Middlebury,  near  which  the  College  is  situated,  is  a  pleasant 
village,  surrounded  by  sublime  mountain  scenery,  and  distin- 
guished for  its  intelligence  and  morality.  Young  men  are  there 
exposed  to  but  few  temptations.  The  expenses  for  board,  tui- 
tion, &c,,  are  so  low,  as  to  place  the  advantages  of  a  liberal 
education  within  the  reach  of  every  youth  who  resolutely  deter- 
mines to  acquire  it.  The  result  is  that  the  Institution  has 
trained  many  young  men  for  prominent  and  influential  stations 
in  society,  who  must  otherwise  have  remained  in  obscurity. 

The  College  must  have  aid,  and  must  have  it  soon.  It  is  gen- 
erally known  that  the  Institution  is  much  embarrassed,  and 
rumor  is  busy  with  her  trumpet  tongue,  proclaiming  on  our  hills 
and  through  our  valleys  that  Middlebury  College  must  soon  wind 
up  its  concerns.  The  effect  of  such  predictions  upon  the  pros- 
perity of  the  Institution  can  easily  be  imagined.  We  do  not 
believe  that  she  is  destined  to  experience  such  a  catastrophe. 
Full  confident  are  we,  that  when  her  condition  and  wants  are 
understood,  her  alumni,  the  sons  of  the  Green  Mountain  State, 
and  the  benevolent  patrons  of  education  in  Massachusetts  and 
elsewhere,  will  promptly  furnish  the  funds  we  need. 

The  meetings  were  addressed  at  different  times  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Olin,  President  of  the  Wesleyan  University,  Middletown, 
the  Rev.  Samuel  C.  Jackson,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Lyman  Gilbert,  D.  D., 
Hon.  Bradford  L.  Wales,  Rev.  Messrs.  H.  N.  Hudson,  I.  R.  Bar- 
bour and  William  Bates,  Dr.  Gregory,  E.  F.  Hodges,  Nathaniel 
Richardson,  S.  Benton  Thompson,  E.  H.  Bennet,  B.  B.  Mussey, 
S.  W.  Bates,  Ormond  Dutton,  Daniel  Church,  William  A.  Har- 
rington, Joseph  C.  Tyler  and  Daniel  Gould,  Esqrs.  ;  and  the 
following  resolutions,  presented  by  S.  W.  Bates,  were  unani- 
mously adopted. 

1.  Resolved,  That  Middlebury  College,  by  sending  forth  into 
the  world  so  large  a  number  of  thoroughly  educated  men,  has 
accomplished  an  important  purpose  in  the  furtherance  of  true 
liberty  in  our  own  land,  and  has  been  a  powerful  instrument  in 
making  known  in  distant  lands  the  American  idea  of  civiliza- 
tion. 


6 


2.  Resolved^  That  from  our  knowledge  of  the  character  of 
the  ahimni  of  this  institution,  the  noble  and  benevolent  objects 
to  which  most  of  them  have  devoted  their  lives,  the  instructing 
the  youth  in  every  part  of  our  country  and  the  preaching  the 
Gospel  all  over  the  world,  we  believe  the  influence  of  Middlebury 
College  cannot  be  spared  ;  that  she  is  educating  a  body  of  strong- 
minded,  energetic  men,  many  in  destitute  circumstances  whom 
no  other  educational  institution  could  reach,  and  is  occupying 
a  position,  which  enables  her  to  act  powerfully  in  aiding  the  pro- 
gress of  human  advancement. 

3.  Resolved,  That  we  have  the  highest  confidence  in  the  wis- 
dom of  the  Officers  of  the  College,  th6  ability  and  scholarship 
of  the  Board  of  Instruction,  and  the  prudence  and  discretion 
of  the  Corporation  ;  that  we  believe  they  have  the  disposition, 
and  with  the  assistance  for  which  they  now  ask,  will  have  the 
power  to  continue  to  this  Institution  the  high  literary  and  moral 
position  which  she  has  hitherto  held. 

4.  Resolved,  That  we  deeply  lament  the  pecuniary  difficulties 
through  which  this  College  is  struggling  ;  and  that  in  order  to 
place  it  on  a  permanent  basis,  upon  which  untrammeled  it  may 
accomplish  the  designs  of  its  founders,  and  no  longer  be  obliged 
to  call  upon  its  friends  for  their  contributions,  we  deem  it  neces- 
sary that  the  sum  of  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  should  be  raised 
and  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  President  and  Fellows  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  terms  of  the  prepared  papers  of  subscription. 

5.  Resolved,  That  we  will  do  what  lieth  in  our  power  to  com- 
plete this  subscription  ;  and  we  earnestly  recommend  the  cause 
to  the  serious  consideration  of  all  the  friends  of  the  College,  and 
especially  to  her  alumni,  and  to  the  sons  of  Vermont,  and  invite 
them,  as  God  has  given  them  the  means,  to  do  what  they  can  to 
save  a  time-honored  Institution,  and  enable  it  to  go  on  success- 
fully in  the  prosecution  of  its  aims. 

6.  Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  three  be  nominated  by  the 
Chairman,  to  report  in  one  week  from  this  evening,  the  names 
of  twenty-five  persons,  who  shall  constitute  an  Agency  Commit- 
tee, to  present  the  claims  of  the  Institution  to  the  citizens  of 
Boston. 

While  these  Resolutions  were  under  discussion,  the  chairman, 
Hon,  Myron  Lawrence,  having  requested  Joshua  Bates,  Escj.  to 
preside,  addressed  the  meeting  as  follows : 


1 


ADDRESS  OF  HON.  MYRON  LAWRENCE. 

Mr.  Chairman, — We  have  assembled  as  natives  of  Ver- 
mont, to  consider  the  condition  and  prospects  of  Middle- 
bury  College.  The  statement  just  made  by  her  learned 
President,  shows  that  she  has  reached  a  crisis  in  her  history, 
that  calls  for  the  immediate  interposition  of  her  friends. 
Dame  Rumor  has  already  prophesied  that  she  must  soon 
suspend  her  operations,  dismiss  her  Faculty,  close  her 
doors,  and  be  numbered  among  the  things  that  have  been. 
It  is  gratifying,  in  this  instance,  to  remember  that  the  old 
Dame  has  a  lying  tongue.  Middlebury  College  extinct ! 
Sir,  I  cannot  endure  the  thought ;  nor  will  I  indulge  it 
even  for  a  moment.  I  could  look  with  almost  as  much 
calmness  and  composure  upon  the  last  agonies  of  my  nat- 
ural mother,  as  I  could  upon  the  expiring  throes  of  my 
Alma  Mater.  Sackcloth  and  tears  would  well  become 
either  event.  The  spirit  within  assures  me  that  she  shall 
live, — that  the  day  of  her  funeral  obsequies  will  be  coin- 
cident with  the  end  of  time. 

My  despondency  is  therefore  dismissed,  my  fears  are 
given  to  the  winds.  I  am  in  the  presence  of  Vermonters, 
natives  of  the  Mountains,  where  freedom  and  liberality, 
intelligence  and  patriotism  are  congenial  plants.  Show 
these  men  of  large  hearts,  her  wants  and  merits  combined, 
and  with  their  characteristic  discrimination  in  favor  of  the 
right,  the  Eight  Hundred  Vermonters  domiciled  in  Boston 
will  come  to  her  rescue.  There  is  a  peculiar  propriety  in 
commending  herself  and  her  necessities  to  the  natives  of 
Vermont,  resident  in  this  metropolis,  the  descendants  of 
her  founders  and  her  early  supporters.  If  they  will  not 
listen  to  her  calls,  contribute  to  her  relief,  and  endow  her 
with  the  means  of  more  extensive  usefulness,  to  whom 
shall  her  friends  resort?     The  array  of  facts  just  detailed 


9 


in  our  hearing,  must  convince  any  one  that  her  embarrass- 
ments are  trying  and  severe ;  but  sure  I  am  that  the  sons 
of  the  Green  Mountains  will  never  allow  it  to  be  said,  that 
this  eminently  useful  Institution,  this  ornament  and  boast 
of  the  State,  has  failed,  has  died  ingloriously ;  that  she 
was  the  first  College  in  the  land  of  the  Pilgrims  which 
was  consigned  to  the  tomb. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Middlebury  College  dead  — her  doors 
shut — her  windows  festooned  with  the  spider's  web  — 
bats  resident  in  her  halls  —  thistles  growing  luxuriantly  in 
her  pathways — emptiness  reigning  in  her  dormitories  and 
recitation  rooms  !  This  lamp  of  the  mountains  extin- 
guished, this  great  light  of  the  valley  put  out !  No,  sir.  Tell 
it  not  in  Yankeedom.  She  is  not  dead,— this  lamp  is  not 
extinguished,  but  kept  trimmed  and  burning — the  great 
valley  is  still  illuminated  by  its  enhghtening  rays.  But, 
sir,  I  confess  that  her  supply  of  oil  is  small  — almost 
exhausted  —  and  she  presents  herself  before  you  on  this 
occasion,  respectfully  asking  your  generous  assistance  in 
replenishing  her  scanty  resources. 

Mr.  Chairman,  the  leading  inquiry,  after  ascertaining  her 
wants  is,  Is  she  deserving  of  aid,— is  her  reputation  untar- 
nished,— has  she  exerted  a  useful  influence  on  the  com- 
munity, —  is  the  world  better  for  her  existence  ? 

Now,  sir,  the  views  I  wish  to  present,  unfortunately, 
savor  much  of  egotism.  I  pray  your  pardon  for  the  fre- 
quent use  of  this  obtrusive  monosyllable.  I  was  a  Mid- 
dlebury boy, —  born  the  same  year  as  this  College,  on  the 
banks  of  Otter  Creek,  amidst  the  green  hills  and  placid 
waters  of  Western  Vermont.  I  have  known  her  from  her 
first  foundations,  have  seen  her  infant  struggles,  and  the 
gratifying  results  of  her  advancing  years.  She  commenc- 
ed in  a  plain  wooden  building ;  but  her  rapidly  increasing 
wants  induced  a  benevolent  public,  in  a  few  years,  to 
present  her  one,  and  in  a  few  years  thereafter,  another, 
large  and  commodious  stone  edifice,  furnishing  ample  room 
for  many  years.     I  have  been  acquainted  with  her  four 


9 


Presidents,  and  most  of  her  Professors  and  Tutors ;  they 
have  been  men  of  talent  and  zeal,  and  untiring  devotion 
to  their  respective  duties.  The  alumni  of  this  College,  of 
whom  there  are  about  nine  hundred,  need  not  blush  in 
comparison  with  the  sons  of  any  other  American  Univer- 
sity. They  have  generally  been  men  of  marked  character, 
and  have  left  their  impress  upon  community,  wielding  a 
kind  and  healthy  influence  upon  the  generations  of  men 
in  which  they  lived. 

Middlebury  College,  si^,  is  emphatically  the  Poor  Boy's 
College,  The  low  price  of  tuition  and  board,  and  the  fa- 
cilities granted  undergraduates,  to  keep  school  12  or  14 
weeks  in  a  year,  have  enabled  many  a  poor  young  man  of 
lofty  intellect  and  bright  hopes,  to  wear  collegiate  honors, 
who,  had  it  not  been  for  this  Institution,  would  never  have 
dared  to  aspire  to  that  distinction.  Many  a  young  man 
has  here  laid  the  foundation  for  extensive  usefulness,  and  a 
deathless  reputation,  who  would  have  felt  himself  barred 
by  his  poverty  from  entering  any  other  College,  and  of 
course  would  have  despaired  of  a  liberal  education.  He 
who  is  now  so  highly  honored  by  your  kind  attention,  in 
all  human  probability,  would  never  have  enjoyed  the  bene- 
fits of  any  other  seminary  of  learning  than  the  common 
school,  had  it  not  been  for  the  accident  of  his  birthplace. 
His  father  was  a  mechanic,  with  an  expensive  family  upon 
his  hands,  and  withal  dependent  upon  his  daily  industry 
for  bread.  It  was  a  great  sacrifice  for  him  to  give  up  the 
time  and  service  of  his  firstborn,  that  he  might  enjoy  the 
teachings  and  discipline  of  this  Seminary.  Many  others, 
within  my  personal  knowledge,  similarly  situated,  have 
enjoyed  her  advantages,  and  reflected  honor  upon  their 
parents  and  country.  Many  more  from  the  circumjacent 
towns  worked  their  way,  with  the  smallest  means  possible, 
to  the  day  of  their  graduation.  This  compulsory  labor, 
this  continual  eff'ort  to  go  ahead,  while  undergraduates, 
may  be  the  secret  of  the  unrivaled  enterprise,  and  energy 
and  success  of  her  alumni.    You  will  fincj  them  in  every 


10 


State  and  Territory  of  this  broad  Republic  ;  nay,  in  almost 
every  realm  and  country  on  the  globe.    And  wherever 
you  find  them,  you  will  find  them  men  of  the  genume 
Vermont  stock;  patient,   persevering,  economical,  and 
clothed  with  influence  and  moral  power.    They  have  been 
the  pioneers  of  civilization  and  evangelization  in  the  great 
West.    They  have  marched  in  the  van  of  all  our  benevo- 
lent enterprises.    They  have  raised  the  standard  of  the 
cross  in  pagan  lands,  and  unfurled  the  Christian  flag  on 
the  islands  of  the  sea.    The  bones  of  Fisk  and  Parsons 
slumber  in  the  land  of  Palestine.    Frost  found  his  grave 
on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges.    Moseley's  remains  enrich 
the  Western  prairie.    Winslow  toils  in  Ceylon,  having 
passed  a  life  of  pre-eminent  usefulness  and  labor.  The  en- 
ergy and  ardent  piety  of  Bingham,  under  Providence,  did 
much  to  elevate  the  degraded  idolators  of  the  Sandwich 
Islands  and  cause  that  wilderness  of  heathenism  to  bud 
and  blossom  like  the  rose.    A  large  portion  of  her  alumni 
are  clergymen.    She  reckons  among  her  jewels  distin- 
guished ministers  of  all  denominations.    The  bishop  of 
Rhode  Island,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Henshaw,  and  the  late  Dr, 
Keith  of  Alexandria  in  Virginia,  are  prominent  as  Episco- 
palians.   Dr.  Olin,  President  of  the  University  at  Middle- 
town,  enjoys  a  very  enviable  reputation  as  a  Methodist. 
Among  the  Baptists,  those  ripe  scholars  and  eloquent  di- 
vines, Rev.  Drs.  Chase,  Conant,  and  Ide,  are  her  honored 
sons    Time  would  fail  me  to  enumerate  the  distinguished 
Congregationalists  and  Presbyterians.    One  name  I  will 
not  suppress.    Who,  some  thirty  years  ago,  as  a  preacher, 
so  electrified  the  South,  and  drew  the  multitude  about  him 
like  Whitfield  ?    Who,  for  a  time,  gave  a  religious  aspect 
to  that  modern  Babylon,  New  Orleans  ?  Sylvester  Larned, 
a  son  of  Middlebury  College.    No  man  m  this  country, 
at  so  early  an  age,  acquired  so  just  and  well  founded  a 
reputation  for  mental  discipline,  moral  culture,  pulpit 
eloquence,  and  devoted  piety,  as  young  Larned. 

The  instruction  and  discipline  of  Middlebury  College, 


11 


are  thorough  and  severe.  The  standing  of  her  graduates, 
as  scholars,  is  highly  respectable.  She  has  furnished  some 
ten  Presidents  of  Colleges,  among  whom  are  Drs.  Olin, 
Church,  Linsley,  Cossit,  Smith,  Blanchard,  &c.  She 
has  some  forty  Professors  who  sustain  their  respective 
chairs  with  ability.  Numerous  Teachers  publish  her 
excellence,  wherever  they  go.  The  Middlebury  graduate 
is  sought  after  as  a  teacher,  presuming  him  a  thorough 
scholar  and  disciplinarian. 

How  stand  her  alumini  on  the  civil  list  ?  She  counts 
several  Governors  of  States,  and  many  Senators  and  Repre- 
sentatives in  Congress.  The  judicial  ermine  sits  gracefully 
upon  her  sons.  The  United  States  Supreme  Court  has 
one.  The  Vermont  Chief  Justice  and  some  of  his  late  asso- 
ciates look  to  her  as  a  mother.  Some  six  of  the  Judges  of 
New  York,  one  in  Michigan,  one  in  Georgia,  one  in  Ten- 
nessee, and  more  in  other  States,  confess  their  obligations 
to  this  College.  Lawyers,  Doctors,  and  distinguished 
citizens  without  number,  bless  her  memory,  and  hold  her 
enshrined  in  their  affections. 

This  College  has  exerted  a  hallowed  influence  on  the 
towns  in  her  immediate  vicinity,  and  cannot  be  spared. 
The  little  town  of  Cornwall,  with  a  population  of  perhaps 
1,700,  has  educated,  I  am  told,  over  seventy  persons.  No 
man  in  his  senses  will  believe  that  half  of  this  number 
would  have  been  graduated,  had  it  not  been  for  the  prox- 
imity of  Middlebury.  Her  easterly  line  approaches  with- 
in about  one  mile  of  the  College  ;  hence  the  great  number 
educated.  They  could  board  at  home  part  of  the  time, 
and  their  expenses  be  more  easily  paid  than  if  from  a  great 
distance.  The  best  of  the  story  is  not  yet  told.  Who 
are  these  men  of  Cornwall  ?  Let  Governor  Slade,  Senator 
Foote,  President  Linsley,  the  Professors  Post,  Bingham, 
and  Thompson,  Judge  Sampson,  Rev.  Reuben  Post,  late 
of  Washington  City,  and  Dr.  Matthews,  answer  as  a 
specimen  of  the  stock. 

This  College  was  the  honored  instrument  of  giving  to 


12 


the  country  a  statesman  of  most  enviable  rank  and  char- 
acter. The  marble  monument,  recently  reared  to  his  mem- 
ory by  his  political  and  personal  friends,  shall  crumble 
into  dust  long  before  the  name  of  Silas  Wright  shall  be 
blotted  from  the  page  of  our  national  history.  Had  this 
College  never  existed,  Silas  Wright  would  have  lived  and 
died  unknown  to  fame.  His  father's  residence  was  about 
two  miles  from  the  Institution.  He  boarded  at  home  most 
of  the  time,  and  his  father  paid  his  bills  in  the  produce  of 
his  farm.  When  at  the  Academy,  he  was  required  to  de- 
claim. He  could  not  muster  courage  to  face  the  school, 
and  played  truant.  He  went  from  home  as  usual,  and  his 
father  supposed  him  in  school ;  but  Silas,  reclining  upon  the 
slope  of  a  sunny  hill  near  by,  studied  his  books  till  even- 
ing and  returned.  His  father  soon  learned  the  truancy  of 
his  son,  and  called  him  to  an  account.  He  frankly  admit- 
ted the  charge  and  assigned  the  cause,  and  begged  his 
father  to  let  him  return  to  the  plough.  His  father  was  a 
man  of  great  discernment  of  character,  and  reasoned  with 
him  on  the  consequences  of  his  folly ;  and  by  dint  of  ridi- 
cule, rather  than  reason,  prevailed  upon  Silas  to  try  again. 
He  did  try,  and  succeeded  beyond  his  hopes.  This  deter- 
mination of  his  father,  and  the  proximity  and  cheapness 
of  Middlebury  College,  made  Silas  Wright.  And  shall 
she  be  suffered  to  languish  and  die  for  the  want  of  funds  ? 
Genius  of  the  Green  Mountains  forbid  it !  O  let  her  not 
perish  among  the  snows  for  lack  of  sustenance.  Vermont- 
ers  in  Boston  forbid  it !  Remember  the  green  fields  of 
your  childhood,  and  the  home  of  your  fathers,  and  their 
darling  Seminary.  Open  your  hands  for  her  present  relief 
and  permanent  endowment. 

Mr.  Chairman,  were  I  rich,  I  would  make  a  deposite 
Aere,  whose  annual  dividends  would  be  more  acceptable 
than  the  best  rail  road  or  bank  stock  in  the  market  ;  div- 
idends which  should  be  declared  throughout  all  coming 
time  ;  dividends  which  should  enure  to  the  benefit  of  the 
whole  world. 


13 


Sir,  I  know  the  tenacity  with  which  men  hold  on  to 
their  money.  Next  to  their  breath,  it  is  the  last  thing 
surrendered.  Yet,  show  most  men  a  strong  case  for  benev- 
olent eifort,  and  a  certainty  of  doing  good,  and  the  close 
gripe  will  become  relaxed,  and  dollars  will  find  the  light, 
that  have  slept  for  years  in  darkness.  Sir,  who  ever  re- 
pented of  a  deed  of  benevolence  ?  Who  ever  regretted 
adding  force  and  extent  to  a  benevolent  enterprise  ?  It  is 
truly  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive. 

Mr,  Chairman,  there  are  now,  sir,  among  the  gorges  of 
her  mountains,  on  her  fertile  hill  slopes  and  rich  valleys, 
many  a  young  man  of  the  true  Vermont  stock,  toiling  for 
their  daily  bread,  and  looking  towards  this  College  with 
ardent  aspirations  for  literary  honors.  If  educated,  it  must 
be  at  this  Institution;  their  small  pecuniary  means  forbid 
their  maintenance  at  any  other  University.  Would  that  I 
could  raise  my  voice  to  such  a  note  as  to  reach  the  ears 
of  every  dweller  in  the  plains  and  on  the  hills  of  that 
noble  State.  I  would  say  to  them.  Sons  of  the  Green 
Mountains,  descendants  of  the  Aliens,  the  Warners,  the 
Tichenors,  the  Crittendens,  the  Chipmans,  the  Skinners, 
and  the  Harringtons,  have  you  duly  estimated  the  debt  of 
gratitude  you  owe  to  that  Institution  which  has  done  so 
much  towards  honoring  your  State,  and  making  known 
her  enterprising,  energetic  character,  to  her  sister  States  of 
this  confederacy,  and  to  almost  all  the  civilized  nations  of 
the  earth  ?  Have  you  counted  up  the  youth  whom  she  has 
taken  from  your  soil  and  transferred  to  places  of  high  dis- 
tinction and  of  commanding  influence  in  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical life  ?  Do  you  not  believe  that  there  are  in  your 
farm  houses  and  mechanic  shops,  other  Keiths,  other  Wil- 
coxes,  other  Pisks,  and  other  Larneds,  other  Mallorys  and 
other  Wrights  ;  choice  spirits  of  whom  you  will  be  proud, 
that  leave  their  impress  and  their  image  wherever  they  go  ? 
Let  this  noble  Institution  receive  your  continued  confidence 
and  your  liberal  support,  and  she  will  annually  send  into 
the  world,  men  whom  you  will  delight  to  acknowledge  as 
sons  of  the  Green  Mountain  State. 


14 

Mr.  Chairman,  this  College  cannot  be  spared  from  the 
circle  of  literary  institutions.  It  is  so  identified  with  the 
history,  prosperity,  and  growth  of  Western  Vermont,  that 
it  cannot  be  annihilated  without  doing  violence  to  her 
most  hallowed  associations.  Every  consideration  of  use- 
fulness, of  position,  of  present,  past  and  prospective  influ- 
ence, calls  upon  her  friends,  and  the  friends  of  social  and 
religious  progress,  to  sustain  her.  And,  sir,  I  feel  assured 
that  they  will  do  it  ;  they  will  come  to  her  rescue,  they 
will  abate  the  present  crisis,  and  establish  her  on  a  perma- 
nent foundation.  The  subscriptions  already  received  are 
an  earnest  of  success.  You  will  not  change  her  counte- 
nance and  send  her  away  empty  ;  but  of  the  abundance 
which  God  has  given  you,  she  will  be  made  a  partaker. 

Her  able  and  indefatigable  President  may  return  to  his 
accustomed  duties,  and  assure  his  Fellows  that  the  contri- 
butions of  generous  Vermonters,  the  alumni,  and  other 
benevolent  friends,  have  placed  the  College  on  an  im- 
moveable basis.  This  fact  would  negative  all  evil  sur- 
mises and  sinister  predictions,  that  she  must  stop ;  and  de- 
termine numerous  students  to  her  halls,  and  give  her  an 
onward  and  ascending  motion,  that  would  redound  to  the 
honor  of  the  College,  and  the  weal  of  the  community. 

The  citizens  of  Boston,  sir,  are  famed  for  their  charita- 
ble and  eleemosynary  donations.  Many  of  our  Colleges, 
and  Schools,  and  Hospitals,  are  indebted  to  generous 
Bostonians  for  their  eminent  usefulness,  and  not  a  few, 
for  their  existence.  A  most  worthy  object  is  here  pre- 
sented for  their  consideration.  Her  merchant  princes,  her 
bankers,  her  retired  capitalists,  her  thrifty  jobbers  and 
retailers,  by  a  small  draft  upon  their  surplus  funds,  can 
establish,  for  all  time,  this  highly  useful  Institution,  and 
render  it  more  productive  of  good,  and  more  effectual  in 
the  suppression  of  evil. 

You,  Mr.  Chairman,  are  an  alumnus  of  Middlebury  Col- 
lege, and  your  generous  subscription  to  her  funds  is  con- 
clusive proof  of  the  lively  interest  you  take  in  her  welfare. 


r 


15 


Let  all  her  alumni  aid  in  her  present  exigencies  according 
to  their  several  ability  ;  let  them  unite  their  filial,  affection- 
ate gifts  with  the  hearty  and  Uberal  offerings  of  the  Sons 
of  Vermont,  here  and  elsewhere,  and  not  only  will  the 
small  amount  that  she  now  modestly  asks  for,  be  promptly 
furnished,  but  a  sum  sufficient  for  her  enlargement  and  her 
ample  endowment. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Bates,  it  will  be  remembered,  was,  for  many 
years,  the  laborious  and  efficient  President  of  Middlebury  Col- 
lege. In  the  following  letter,  he  expresses  his  unabated  interest 
in°the  Institution,  and  his  earnest  desire  that  it  may  be  relieved 
from  pecuniary  embarassment. 

Dudley^  December  9,  1850. 

Rev.  B.  Labaree,  D.  D., 

Dear  Sir,— Your  letter,  with  the  printed  circular,  was  duly 
received  on  Saturday  ;  and  most  sincerely  do  I  hope,  that  you 
will  succeed  in  your  endeavors  to  place  Middlebury  College  on 
a  permanent  foundation.  It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to 
comply  with  your  request.  But  the  circumstances  of  my  parish 
seem  to  forbid  my  leaving  home  at  present.  I  should  be  pleased, 
on  many  accounts,  to  attend  the  proposed  meeting  on  Wednesday 
evening.  It  would  afford  me  satisfaction  to  meet  the  graduates 
of  our  beloved  College,  who  reside  in  Massachusetts,  and  any 
other  friends  of  learning  and  the  Institution,  who  may  be  in- 
duced to  meet  with  them.  I  should  be  glad  to  have  the  opportu- 
nity of  expressing  to  the  Alumni  of  the  College  who  may  be 
present,  my  entire  confidence  in  the  present  Faculty,  as  sound 
scholars,  as  diligent  and  faithful  instructors,  as  men  of  enlarged 
views  and  conservative  principles,  exerting  every  where  and  in 
all  respects  a  salutary  influence.  I  should  be  pleased  to  remind 
them  of  their  obligation  to  their  Alma  Mater,  for  what  they  are, 
and  for  what  she  has  qualified  them  to  do  for  the  welfare  of  soci- 
ety, the  church,  their  country  and  the  world.  And  I  should 
certainly  say  to  them,  what  I  said  to  those  assembled  at  her  re- 
cent Semi-Centennial  Anniversary,  that  they  must  not  suffer  the 
beloved  Institution  to  languish  for  want  of  a  generous  support. 


16 


i 


I  should  urge  them,  if  they  saw  any  clanger  of  such  a  result,  to 
rally  around  her  ;  to  come,  in  united  phalanx,  to  the  rescue ;  to 
bring,  if  they  possess  the  ability,  the  requisite  relief  in  their  own 
hands— and  if  they  have  not  the  means  of  doing  this,  to  become 
beggars,  as  you  and  I  have  been  obliged  to  be,  and  solicit  dona- 
tions from  their  friends. 

I  should  be  glad,  likewise,  to  have  an  opportunity  to  speak  to 
any  of  my  Boston  friends,  who  love  the  cause  of  learning  and 
religion,  and  who  wish  to  extend  the  influence  of  a  sound  and 
sanctified  literature  through  the  land  ;  and  assure  them  of  my  full 
persuasion,  that  a  little  aid  granted  to  Middlebury  College,  at  this 
crisis,  will  probably  do  more  to  promote  the  cause  they  love,  and 
secure  the  object  of  their  desire,  than  could  be  accomplished,  by 
the  same  means,  in  any  other  way.  Should  any  one  suggest,  by 
way  of  objection,  that  Vermont  ought  to  provide  for  her  own  in- 
stitutions, I  should  answer,  as  I  once  answered  the  same  objec- 
tion when  made  by  the  late  Judge  Spencer,  of  Albany,  appa- 
rently to  his  entire  satisfaction,— certainly  so  as  to  secure  from 
him  a  generous  donation,— that  literature  and  religion  acknowl- 
edge no  State-lines  ;  that  the  republic  of  letters  and  the  sphere 
of  benevolence  are  universal  in  their  diffusive  character,  and  re- 
ciprocal in  their  beneficial  influence.  Or,  I  might  say  to  busi- 
ness men,  in  particular,  that  Middlebury  and  the  whole  valley 
of  the  Otter-Creek  is  rapidly  becoming  a  part  of  the  suburbs  of 
Boston;  and  by  the  increasing  facilities  of  communication,  must 
soon  pour  its  entire  surplus  produce  into  Boston  market;  and 
receive,  in  return,  its  supplies  of  merchandise  chiefly  through 
that  channel.  And,  perhaps,  the  time  is  near  at  hand,  when 
it  will,  be  thought  that  the  sons  of  Boston  merchants  may  re- 
ceive the  best  education,  and  with  the  greatest  security  to  their 
morals  and  religious  character,  by  pursuing  their  studies  in  a 
quiet  village,  at  the  distance  of  six  or  eight  hours'  ride  from  city 
interruptions  and  city  temptations. 

But  as  I  cannot  be  with  you,  on  the  occasion  of  the  meeting, 
I  must  content  myself  by  expressing  my  deep  sympathies  with 
you  in  your  arduous  labors,  and  sincerely  wishing  success  in 
your  laudable  enterprise. 

Very  respectfully  yours,  &,c., 

Joshua  Bates. 


